The Enchantments, Colchuck Lake, Aasgard Pass, Snow Lakes & Nada Lake — Saturday, Jul. 26, 2025

There are no words capable of expressing the beauty of this hike, so I’ll forgo describing the scenery and stay practical. This was my second time doing the through-hike from Stuart Lake to Snow Lakes; thankfully, it went much more smoothly than the first.

Everyone has their own methods, but here are some things that worked for me:

• Cairns are your friends – follow them! Multiple times, I called out to people ahead that they’d missed a turn. More likely, the first person missed it and ten tired strangers blindly followed. Even when you’re tired and in a rush – especially then! – find a cairn, walk to it, stop. Find the next one, walk to it, stop. Do not walk blindly and do not follow other people. Out there, cairns are better friends than your friends are!
• Budget time, food, and water. Get to know yourself during training hikes, make estimates, and then regularly check your pace so you can adjust early if needed.
  1. Time: aim for daylight, but bring a headlamp! Last time, I did two hours in the dark. This time: to Colchuck: 2 hours. To base of Aasgard: 1 hour. To top of Aasgard: 2 hours. Total, I averaged 1.3 mph to Viviane (including steps above). Then, I booked it as fast as my stumbling legs would allow, ending at 1.6 mph overall. 12 hours total with 3 hours of daylight to spare. Physically, I don’t think I could have done it any faster, though on other long, strenuous, scenic hikes, I average 2 to 2.5 mph.
  2. Food: I snack once an hour; I don’t wait to get hungry. Something small, but something – jerky, trail mix, apple, or granola bar. This hike was so challenging and so gorgeous that I’d blink and an hour and half had gone by. I had to intentionally remind myself to eat.
  3. Water: again, I was so tired and amazed, I had to make a conscious effort to drink water at a healthy pace. Figure out on training hikes how much water your body needs, and make sure it gets that amount. Water is everywhere but the final 3 miles or so – the hardest, slowest miles. If you still have daylight, they are in hot sunshine, so stock up.

• Use your hands: lots of people started Aasgard with poles in hand; no one was using them by the top. When it’s that steep, loose gravel is extremely slippery; you kick small rockslides onto the people below you. Bigger rocks are easier to climb. You will often need your hands for leverage, both on uphill and downhill boulders through the last lake. Goats use all four hooves; channel your inner goat. 😊
• Swallow your pride. Savor the few flat sections… at top speed. You’ll need time for rough terrain. Pass when you can, even if you know they’ll pass you later. Don’t waste time going slowly when you have capacity to go faster, and don’t push yourself past a safe point when you need to stop. Even strangers up there are cheering each other on!
• This trail is HARD. I ran into many chiseled athletes with tiny backpacks, surprised at how little of this trail they could run. Aasgard is famous, but the long, steep climb from Viviane to Snow to Nada is a rocky scramble, too. Even the rare flat parts are full of trip hazards, as evidenced by many skinned knees, including my own. Being in excellent shape for other sports does not mean this trail will be easy for you!

 Here are some things that I would do differently next time:

• Take the 4 AM shuttle: dim beginnings of daylight began just before five. On the 5 AM shuttle, I actually hit the trail at 5:49 AM. I’d love that extra bit of daylight on the back end, if only for reassurance.
• Cut it sliiightly closer on the daylight: now that I know I’m capable of making up time at the end (painful, but possible), I’d like to pick a lake and relax for an hour. Maybe Perfection, with that large shallow section that might slightly warm, or maybe Snow Lakes, right before the final push.

 Other standard trip report notes:

• Road: paved to Snow Lakes; long, winding, and potholed up to Stuart Lake.
• Trailhead: at 4:20 AM, the Snow Lakes lot was packed, plus 30+ cars on the road. Stuart was overflowing even more.
• Bathrooms: clean and stocked at Snow Lakes, dirty and 3 rolls of TP at 5:45 AM at Stuart. Stuart Lake trailhead is huge, but has one stall. The fifteen-minute line was annoying, but it was the stoplight on a highway onramp: five shuttle vans full of hikers arrived at once, but we didn’t crash into each other as we hit the trail. Lots of trail pit toilets; those I used were in decent shape.
• Bugs: surprisingly not an issue! No bug spray, and only 4-5 bites. Partly cloudy with a bit of a breeze; maybe that helped. I also didn’t stop much.
• Trail condition: cairns were dependably placed! Big relief. Blowdowns between Viviane and Nada, but all navigable. Stone footbridge between Snow Lakes, above ankle-deep two years ago, was bone-dry. Water levels looked low, but I wonder if the outflow got concentrated elsewhere. Later I passed a waterfall, roaring and crackling, like a fire station had combined all its hoses into one.

Thank you for reading this extremely long report! In summary – this is the most beautiful, exhausting hike I’ve ever done. If life next year allows for the training I was able to do this year, I would love to make it up there again.